In the past, abrasive grinding wheels generally have been supported upon a shaft in a cantilever fashion. This arrangement has made it possible to easily and readily change the grinding wheels as such changes are required for good grinding operation.
However, such a cantilever type of support arrangement for grinding wheels results in inaccuracies in the grinding operation, due to the fact that the cantilever support permits flexing of the shaft which supports the grinding wheel. Thus, a grinding operation has frequently lacked good quality, particularly during high stock removal creep-feed grinding.
A dressing roll structure for grinding wheels usually includes a two bearing housing arrangement, in which the dressing roll is supported between the two bearings. However, conventional rolling contact bearings become worn. Shaft runout and vibration occurs. Thus, accuracy of dressing operation is not maintained.
Continuous dress creep-feed grinding requires the dressing roll to rotate at speeds higher than normal. Therefore, the resolution of the dressing roll position with respect to the grinding wheel is critical to the success of the grinding process. In other words, the rate of travel of the dressing roll into the grinding wheel is critical for high performance grinding.
It is an object of this invention to provide a structure by which shafts which support a grinding wheel and a dressing roll are rigidly supported to maintain a high degree of resolution in the grinding operation and in which shaft wear is a minimum.
It is another object of this invention to provide such structure in which the grinding wheel and dressing roll can be quickly, easily, and readily removed and replaced.
Another object of this invention is to provide such structure by which the grinding wheel and dressing roll can be removed and replaced by an automatically operable mechanism, such as by robotic mechanism or the like.
Another object of this invention is to provide grinding and dressing structure which is suitable for high speed operation in a process of continuous dressing.
Other objects and advantages of this invention reside in the construction of parts, the combination thereof, and the mode of operation, as will become more apparent from the following description.